Creating a Gift Certificate

A gift certificate is a product that, when purchased, generates a coupon code in the amount of the product's purchase price. When a gift certificate product is added to the basket, it will bring up a personalization form to fill out, including an option to specify the recipient's email address. Once the gift certificate is purchased, the recipient will receive an email including a coupon in the amount of the gift certificate product.

First, we will need to create the product, and give it the option to generate a gift certificate upon purchase. The gift certificate value will be equivalent to the product's purchase price. This can be accomplished through the following:

1. In your Administration Area, locate [Products > Add a Product]

2. Give the product a name and a price. The product's name and price will be displayed in the storefront (such as Gift Certificate for the name, and $25.00 for the price).

3. Under Storefront Behavior, for the option titled Generate Gift Certificate, toggle the button to "YES".

4. Click Save Changes.

Now when this product is purchased, a gift certificate will be sent to the specified recipient, in the form of a coupon code equivalent to the product's purchase price.

Purchasing and Personalizing the Gift Certificate

Once the gift certificate product is created, it is ready to be personalized and purchased.

When a customer adds the gift certificate to their basket, it will bring up the Personalize a Gift Certificate form. The customer must fill in their name, the recipient's name and the recipient's email address. The Personal Message portion of the form is completely optional.

An example of the personalization form.

Once the order has been placed, a Gift Certificate Notification email will be sent out to the recipient. The layout of this message can be viewed and edited through [Design > Email Messages] for Email Message SID 400: Gift Certificate Notification.